Rahul wants to enjoy power without accountability: BJP

Allahabad: The BJP on Friday attacked Rahul Gandhi for his comments about Prime Ministership saying it smacked of "shirking responsibility and enjoying power without accountability".

"Rahul Gandhi`s comments about Prime Ministership confirm that he, like his mother and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, does not want to take any type of responsibility and keep enjoying power without accountability," BJP spokesman Shahnawaz Hussain told reporters here.

"What does the Congress Vice President mean by saying that the question whether he will be Prime Minister or not is irrelevant? His father Rajiv Gandhi, grandmother Indira Gandhi and great grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru have all been Prime Ministers. Does he mean to say they were doing an irrelevant job," he asked.
The BJP spokesman was reacting to Gandhi`s recent remarks wherein he had dismissed as "irrelevant" speculation about his being projected as the Prime Ministerial candidate of the Congress in the next general elections.

Hussain, however, ducked queries regarding possibility of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi being projected as the BJP`s Prime Ministerial candidate amid vociferous opposition from key allies like the Janata Dal (United) saying "a decision will be taken in this regard at the appropriate time by BJP Parliamentary Board after taking all NDA constituents into confidence".

He also claimed that there were many parties "which are keen to join the NDA and in the days to come the coalition is going to emerge stronger than ever".

"One thing is sure. Enough of filth has been generated by the Congress rule. And lotus blooms in murky waters. So now nothing can prevent the lotus from blooming," he said in an obvious reference to the BJP`s electoral symbol.

He also dismissed speculation about emergence of a Third Front comprising parties other than the Congress and the BJP after the next Lok Sabha polls and claimed "only the BJP, along with its allies, will be able to achieve a three-digit tally.

"The Congress can hope for no better than a double-digit figure. Those talking about Third Front will not be able to reach even there."

Speaking about Uttar Pradesh, Husain said both the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party "squandered the opportunity, that came their way through electoral victories, to make a difference like the NDA did in Orissa and Bihar.

"Now both parties, despite being bitterly opposed to each other, have joined hands in serving as oxygen cylinders for an ailing Congress."